When it comes to leftovers, James Beard Award-winner Sara Dickerman believes that there is nothing better than figuring out the right way to reframe a good meal into another, potentially great meal. Second meals aren’t just reheating last night’s dinner. For Sara, there’s excitement in introducing new flavors and textures at the next meal—that eureka moment of fitting ingredients you have into a delicious new framework. In Secrets of Great Second Meals, she inspires us to create fresh, delicious meals using what’s in those containers in the refrigerator.

In this recipe, she turns a fridge staple – roasted chicken – into an easy, fresh, and delicious second meal.

GINGER-SCALLION CHICKEN SALAD WITH CUCUMBERS

Maybe no food points in the direction of future meals quite so generously as a roasted chicken, whether it was cooked at home or grabbed at the grocery. Though mayonnaise-based chicken salads can be wonderful, I more often lean toward a quick vinaigrette loaded with good green flavors, such as snappy-fresh scallions. This particular dressing only gets better overnight, though the shallots will dim a bit in color. If you’ve made it ahead of time, feel free to add some fresh bright green scallion slivers before serving.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice, fine sea salt, sesame oil, and ginger. Stir in the scallions. You can use the dressing right away, but it is most flavorful if it can sit around for 30 minutes or more before serving.

2. To make the salad, in a large bowl, combine the chicken, cucumber, herbs, and cashews with dressing to taste. Season with extra salt and Aleppo pepper to taste.

Variations:

• Make a noodle salad. The dressing is delicious with all kinds of cold noodles: buckwheat, vermicelli, and even plain spaghetti. Toss in herbs, shaved vegetables, or slices of cold grilled flank steak.

• Make a no-chicken salad. Keep everything the same, but substitute roasted or fresh tofu for the chicken.

Finding meals for the cold winter months that warm you up but don’t weigh you down can sometimes feel like searching for the holy grail. But in this recipe from Secrets of Great Second Meals, James Beard Award-winner Sara Dickerman, turns leftover ingredients you may already have in your fridge into a soup that is equal parts hearty and healthy.

In Secrets of Great Second Meals, Sara shows us that re-imagining leftover food for a second meal not just a good, cheap, un-wasteful thing to do, but way of making everyday eating more inventive and enticing. Learn to love your leftovers and try this Spicy Tofu Soup tonight!

SPICY TOFU SOUP WITH BOK CHOY

This is the kind of soup I make for myself for a quick desk-side lunch during a busy day. It’s a charismatic broth poured over some extra tofu and veggies for a very pure-feeling but savory meal. If you want to treat yourself a bit like a guest at a fancy restaurant, place the chunky bits in the bowl in an artful way and then pour the broth over them with a flourish. Even if you’re dining alone, you deserve a little flair.

Extra ingredients: roasted tofu, cooked bok choy or other greens

Time: 10 minutes (10 minutes active)

Makes 1 serving (about 2 cups)

Ingredients:

11/2 cups water or dashi

1 tablespoon white miso or chickpea miso

1 teaspoon gochujang paste (available at Korean and Asian groceries; I very much favor Wholly Gochujang, which is also available at Amazon.com)

3/4 cup roasted tofu

1/2 cup cooked baby bok choy or other greens

2 or 3 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin if raw or in bigger chunks if already cooked

Toasted sesame seeds, to garnish

Directions

1. Bring the water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, whisk in the miso and the gochujang, then add the tofu, bok choy, and mushrooms and let them warm through. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to pull them out of the broth and arrange them in a serving bowl.

2. Pour the broth over the tofu and vegetables and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

Variations:

• Change the vegetables. Almost any vegetable tastes good in this context, but especially roasted mushrooms or asparagus; diced cooked squash; potatoes or sweet potatoes; English or snap peas; and/or cooked greens such as pea vines, spinach, or chard.

• Add some seafood. Try floating some grilled shrimp, steamed clams, or crab meat in the spicy broth along with the tofu.

Turning leftover rice from a savory curry into a sweet, after-dinner treat is nothing short of kitchen magic.

Kitchen magic is just what James Beard Award-winner Sara Dickerman teaches us in her new book Secrets of Great Second Meals. Learn to cook smarter, save time and money, AND enjoy great meals crafted from leftovers in this practical and creative cookbook full of recipes for “second meals.” Second meals aren’t just reheating last night’s dinner. For Sara, there’s excitement in introducing new flavors and textures at the next meal—that eureka moment of fitting ingredients you have into a delicious new framework. In Secrets of Great Second Meals, she inspires use to create fresh, delicious meals using what’s in those containers in the refrigerator. See? Magic.

SAFFRON RICE PUDDING

Rice pudding can be as simple as a milky risotto, and it’s a beautiful way to redirect the extra rice from a recent curry dinner. Gentle stovetop cooking makes for a creamy texture, which gets offset by the crunch of good pistachios and the tangy pop of pomegranate seeds.

Extra ingredient: cooked rice

Time: 30 minutes (30 minutes active)

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoon (a small pinch) saffron threads

11/2 cups cooked rice, preferably basmati

3 tablespoons uncooked sweet rice (mochi gome)

21/2 cups milk, plus more to serve

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds, to serve

2 tablespoons chopped pistachios, to serve

Directions

1. In a small dry skillet, heat the saffron. Don’t go anywhere! You want to toast the saffron until it is dry and a shade darker than when it started and then pull it off the heat (a matter of 30 seconds to 1 minute). Dump the toasted saffron onto a small plate and crush it into a powder with the back of a spoon.

2. In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, whisk the saffron, cooked rice, uncooked sweet rice, milk, and cardamom. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, breaking up any lumps of rice with the whisk. Reduce the heat to a very low simmer, cover, and cook for 25 minutes, until thickened and smooth, stirring occasionally. Stir in the sugar and the cream and remove from the heat.

3. Serve warm like a sweet risotto or chill, stirring in a bit more milk to soften the texture if desired (the pudding will stiffen a bit when it is chilled). Top with the pomegranate seeds and pistachios.

Variations

• Change the grain. You can make this with cooked brown rice, barley, or farro, but the coloring will not be as bright and white.

• Change the flavor. Try a cinnamon stick and the zest of an orange in place of the saffron, or substitute 1 teaspoon of matcha powder for the saffron.

• Change the topping. If you make the cinnamon version, you might want to go with classic raisins on your rice pudding. If you choose matcha, top the green pudding with just the pistachios.

Timeless and delicious are the best words to describe this recipe from the author of Pasta, Pretty Please, Linda Miller Nicholson—a.k.a. Salty Seattle on Instagram. Inspired by the delectably memorable caprese salad she had in Italy, Linda has translated her love for that dish into a delectable sauce recipe that pasta lovers at any cooking skill level can indulge in and enjoy, whether served with one of Linda’s extraordinary handmade color pastas or another favorite pasta. Emphasizing the importance of choosing the freshest ingredients possible, this recipe of roasted tomatoes with basil oil and burrata will easily become a staple in your household and in your heart.

In Pasta, Pretty Please Linda shows you how to release your own creativity with artistic pasta in every color and shape imaginable and pairs them with inventive sauces and fillings that explodes your taste buds. She takes pasta to the next level, turning it into vibrant works of edible art using all natural ingredients—flour, eggs, vegetables, herbs, and superfoods. Pasta, Pretty Pleaseis in bookstores everywhere and would make any pasta lover happy during the season of giving.

ROASTED TOMATOES WITH BASIL OIL AND BURRATA

This sauce honors the elements of a caprese salad—tomato, mozzarella, and basil. It’s a celebrated flavor combo for a reason, and that reason is to make your mouth sing with the flavors of Italy on a warm spring evening. I’ll never forget the first time I had a truly remarkable caprese. I was nineteen, sitting in an outdoor restaurant in a boisterous piazzetta on the balmy Italian island of Capri. While I thought I had tasted caprese before, the first bite showed me what I was missing with supermarket tomatoes, lackluster basil, and rubbery mozzarella. So many culinary combinations in Italy come from few ingredients, and yet their flavor is mighty. That is because the building blocks are of the very highest quality. I’d love it if you would try to select the freshest basil and burrata and the ripest tomatoes you can find to make this sauce. Trust me, your dinner guests will love it too.

This sauce highlights really pretty pasta, because even though there’s a lot going on, it’s not terribly visually distracting from the noodles themselves. Something like Striped Paccheri Rigati would work delightfully. It also wins points for flexibility. Dress it up by dolloping a spoonful of caviar on each portion, or make it humble by substituting mozzarella balls for the burrata. If you can’t find mini-roma tomatoes, feel free to use another medium-small, sweet tomato variety, preferably home-or trusted farmer–grown. Blanching any greens with a bit of baking soda in the water helps them to maintain their vibrant color.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS | PREPARATION TIME: 45 MINUTES

Basil Oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

4 ounces fresh basil, both leaves and stems (reserve a few leaves for garnish)

To make the basil oil, in a medium saucepan over high heat, bring 4 cups water to a boil with the salt and baking soda. Add the basil and blanch for 10 seconds, then drain immediately. Press as much water out as you can, then blend the basil and oil in a blender until smooth. Pour the basil oil through a fine-mesh strainer into a lidded glass jar. It will take some time for the oil to pass through the mesh, so continue with the rest of the recipe while you wait. (You can make the basil oil up to 1 week ahead, although in my fridge it never lasts more than a day, what with midnight toast dips and such.)

To make the whole roasted tomatoes, preheat the oven to 450°F. Put the tomatoes in a large aluminum foil packet along with the oil, thyme, and salt and pinch it tightly closed at the top. Place the packet on a sheet pan to keep the oil from dripping onto the oven floor. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes are blistered and soft but not falling apart.

To assemble, 1 minute before serving, drain the liquid from the burrata container and pour the hot pasta water over the burrata balls to warm them slightly. Don’t immerse them in hot water for more than 1 minute or the burrata will become tough.

Toss the whole roasted tomatoes with the pasta, then divide the pasta among four plates, top each portion with 1/2 ball of burrata, and drizzle on some basil oil. Garnish with the reserved basil leaves and Parmigiano.

]]>https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/12/21/roasted-tomato-with-basil-oil-and-burrata-from-linda-miller-nicholson/feed/0thesecretingredientblogpastapastaPasta-Pretty-PleaseEverything You Need to Host Thanksgivinghttps://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/11/08/everything-you-need-to-host-thanksgiving/
https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/11/08/everything-you-need-to-host-thanksgiving/#respondThu, 08 Nov 2018 17:43:28 +0000http://thesecretingredientblog.com/?p=7307Continue reading →]]>The time is here! Thanksgiving is just around the corner and for some, stress levels are at an all-time high. First-time Thanksgiving cooks are starting to panic at the thought of creating a meal for the entire family to enjoy while also wanting to create new traditions along the way. Someone might get passed down the responsibility of carving the turkey and the spotlight is on them like never before. Some have been Thanksgiving hosts for years to come and now think it’s time to update the menu and add a fresh spin on a classic dish.

Whatever it is regarding Thanksgiving, Rick Rodger’s classic book,Thanksgiving 101digs in on everything special about the holiday. Not only does Rick excite you about the holiday season approaching, but offers detailed tips on how you can create the perfect Thanksgiving with ease.

The book is perfect for:

FIRST-TIME THANKSGIVING COOKS: READ THIS TO GAIN COURAGE: Join the thousands of people who have used this book as a step-by-step guide to Thanksgiving success, and solve the mysteries of gravy, too.

HOST SUPPORT TEAM, a.k.a “The One Who Wields the Knife”:READ THIS FOR THE CARVING INSTRUCTIONS. You know that you are going to be asked to carve the #@%&* bird. Learn how to do it without swearing. (Valuable Tip: Let the roasted bird rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before attempting carving.)

GUESTS: READ THIS FOR GRATITUDE. Just look at one of the menu timetables and you’ll appreciate how much work and love goes into the meal. Say an extra prayer at grace time that goes “And please…let me be invited back next year!”

TURKEY BRINERS: READ THIS FOR NEW IDEAS: Brining is a pain in the neck. Learn another fool-proof way to roast the perfect, moist turkey without buckets, ice chests, and pounds of salt. (Valuable Tip #2: It involves aluminum foil.)

EXPERIENCED COOKS: READ THIS FOR CONVERSATION MATERIAL: Even if you know what you are doing on Thanksgiving, you’ll find out why we eat what we eat at this holiday and be a fascinating conversationalist at the dinner table.

Thanksgiving 101 is filled with easy and delicious, valuable tips and tricks, and even a special holiday timeline to help with organization needs. To help de-stress and excite for Thanksgiving, here is a recipe for the “Perfect Roast Turkey with Bourbon Gravy.” Rick says it’s a foolproof recipe, “as long as you measure the ingredients and don’t eyeball them like my grandma did. She was a wonderful lady who made lumpy gravy.”

After trying every turkey roasting method under the sun, this is the one I come back to, and the one I always teach at my cooking classes. I am giving instructions for an average-sized 18-pound turkey, but the instructions can expand or reduce depending on the size of your bird. Some other important tips:

Never use an aluminum foil pan, as they deflect heat in the oven. A heavy roasting pan holds the heat and helps create dark, flavorful drippings that color and season the gravy.

Do not baste the bird more than every hour or so. The drippings do not penetrate the skin and add moisture. Basting only helps glaze the skin.

A little booze adds character to the gravy, but leave it out if you wish.

Be sure to let the bird stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before slicing. This redistributes the juices throughout the meat. Carve too soon, and the juices spurt out and lead to dry turkey.

Do make the Turkey Broth or its Small Batch cousin. It makes all of the difference in the gravy. Add some to the roasting pan during cooking to create steam that helps keep the bird moist.

An 1-quart gravy separator is indispensable for gravy-making.

Ingredients

One 18-pound fresh turkey

About 12 cups of your favorite stuffing (if you choose not to stuff the bird, use a seasoning mixture of 1 each chopped onion, celery, and carrots, which will not be eaten)

Position a rack in the lowest position of the oven and preheat to 325° F. Reserve the turkey neck and giblets to use in gravy or stock. Pull out the pads of yellow fat at both sides of the tail and reserve. Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold water. Pat the turkey skin dry. Turn the turkey on its breast. Loosely fill the neck cavity with stuffing. Using a thin wooden or metal skewer, pin the turkey’s neck skin to the back. Fold the turkey’s wings akimbo behind the back or tie to the body with kitchen string. Loosely fill the large body cavity with stuffing. Place any remaining stuffing in a lightly buttered casserole, cover and refrigerate to bake as a side dish. Place the drumsticks in the hock lock (whether plastic or metal, this hook-like implement is ovenproof, so don’t remove it) or tie together with kitchen string.

Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Rub all over with the softened butter. Season with the salt and pepper. Tightly cover the breast area with aluminum foil. Pour 2 cups of stock into the bottom of the pan. Add the turkey fat to the pan (it will melt and make additional drippings for the gravy.)

Roast the turkey, basting all over every hour with the pan juices of the pan (lift up the foil to reach the breast area), until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh (but not touching a bone) reads 180° F degrees and the stuffing is at least 160° F, about 4 1/4 hours. (See Estimated Roasting Times, below.) Whenever the drippings evaporate, add broth or water to moisten them (about 1 1/2 cups at a time). Remove the foil during the last hour to allow the skin to brown, and give the skin an extra basting to color the skin.

Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter and let it stand for at least 30 minutes before carving. Increase the oven temperature to 350°F. Drizzle 1/2 cup of turkey broth over the stuffing in the casserole, cover, and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes. (Of course, add other side dishes to the oven, as needed!)

Meanwhile, pour the drippings from the roasting pan into a 1-quart gravy separator measuring cup, or glass bowl. Let stand 5 minutes; then pour off the dark pan drippings, leaving the clear yellowish fat in the separator. (If using a glass cup or bowl, skim off and reserve the clear yellow fat that rises to the top.) Measure 3/4 cup fat, adding melted butter, if needed. Add enough turkey broth to the skimmed drippings to make 8 cups total.

Place the roasting pan over two stove burners on low heat and add the turkey fat. Whisk in the flour, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the turkey broth and the cognac. Cook, whisking often, until the gravy has thickened and no trace of raw flour flavor remains, about 5 minutes. Strain the gravy into a bowl to remove any undissolved drippings. Transfer the gravy to a warmed gravy boat. Carve the turkey and serve the gravy alongside.

Estimated Roasting Times

(Oven Temperature 325° F)

Add an extra 30 minutes to the roasting time to allow for variations in roasting conditions. It’s better to have a bird done ahead of time than to keep everyone waiting and hungry for the bird to finish roasting.

Unstuffed Turkey

8 to 12 pounds—2 3/4 to 3 hours

12 to 14 pounds—3 to 3 3/4 hours

14 to 18 pounds—3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hours

18 to 20 pounds—4 1/4 to 4/12 hours

20 to 24 pounds—4 1/2 to 5 hours

Stuffed Turkey

8 to 12 pounds—3 to 3 1/2 hours

12 to 14 pounds—3 1/2 to 4 hours

14 to 18 pounds—4 to 4 1/4 hours

18 to 20 pounds—4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours

20 to 24 pounds—4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hours

Homemade Turkey Stock 101Makes about 2 1/2 quarts

Make-Ahead: Turkey stock can be prepared up to 3 days ahead, cooled completely, covered and refrigerated. It can also be frozen in airtight containers for up to 3 months.

Here is a full-flavored turkey broth to make whenever you have the time, and then freeze for use during the holidays. The giblets and neck of a single turkey make a weak (but acceptable) broth, so for the best stock, start with a generous amount of inexpensive turkey wings, which should be readily available at the supermarket at this time of year. If you don’t have a cleaver to chop them up, ask the butcher to the job. Don’t simmer the liver, which is too bitter. If your stuffing or gravy recipe calls for it, sauté the liver in a little butter.

Ingredients

3 pounds turkey wings

Turkey neck and giblets (liver reserved, if desired; see above)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 medium celery rib, with leaves, chopped

6 parsley sprigs

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 dried bay leaf

Using a heavy cleaver, chop the wings and neck into 2-inch pieces. (If necessary, ask the butcher to do this for you.) Using a sharp knife, trim away any membranes from the giblets.

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. In batches, add the turkey wings, neck, and giblets and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the turkey to a plate. Add the onion, carrot, and celery to the pot and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 6 minutes.

Return the turkey to the pot. Add enough cold water to cover the turkey by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, skimming off the foam that rises to the surface. Add the parsley, thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low. Cook at a bare simmer for at least 2 and up to 12 hours. As needed, add more water to the pot to keep the bones covered.

Strain the stock through a colander into a large bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes and skim off the clear yellow fat that rises to the surface. If desired, remove the giblets, cool, chopped finely and refrigerated for use in gravy. The neck meat may be removed in strips, chopped, and reserved as well. Cool the stock completely before refrigerating or freezing.

Small-Batch Turkey Stock: A smaller amount of stock can be prepared with just the turkey neck and giblets. As this relatively small amount of turkey won’t give a very full-flavored stock, use chicken broth (homemade or canned) as a booster. Following the instructions above, brown the neck and giblets from 1 turkey in 1 tablespoon oil. Add 1 small onion, 1 small carrot, and 1 small celery, all chopped, and cook until softened. Add 1 quart water, 2 13 3/4-ounce cans reduced-sodium chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Add 3 parsley sprigs, 1/4 teaspoon thyme, 6 peppercorns, and 1 small bay leaf. Simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours (the smaller amount of liquid would evaporate away if cooked longer).

]]>https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/11/08/everything-you-need-to-host-thanksgiving/feed/0thesecretingredientblog9780061227318Celebrate National Pasta Day. Make Stars Pappardelle from Linda Miller Nicholson’s new cookbookhttps://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/10/17/celebrate-national-pasta-day-make-stars-pappardelle-from-linda-miller-nicholsons-new-cookbook/
https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/10/17/celebrate-national-pasta-day-make-stars-pappardelle-from-linda-miller-nicholsons-new-cookbook/#respondWed, 17 Oct 2018 17:55:00 +0000http://thesecretingredientblog.com/?p=7302Continue reading →]]>Happy National Pasta Day! Linda Miller Nicholson’s new cookbook, Pasta, Pretty Please, is the perfect playbook for indulging in a carb-lover’s favorite dish. To whet your appetite, here is one of the many recipes that shine from this stunning plant-dyed pasta art cookbook. Known on Instagram as @SaltySeattle, Linda is famed for creating an array of pastas in every color and shape imaginable. This cookbook includes 25 colorful dough recipes, 33 traditional and modern shaping techniques, and 22 perfect sauce recipes for all your pasta creations—made using all-natural colors from vegetables, herbs, and superfoods.

I’ve used various types of cutters to make shapes in pasta, and when feasible I prefer to use plunger-style cutters because they really save the tips of my fingers from burning clean off after I’ve cut out about two hundred of the same shape. If you have only a metal cookie cutter, it will certainly work, but plunger cutters can be found inexpensively at most cooking or craft stores as well as online. As with all the patterns in this book, you don’t need to cut the finished star sheets into pappardelle. Farfalle, lasagne sheets, or any other noodles on the larger side would also showcase this pattern well.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Special Equipment

A star-shaped plunger cutter

1/2 batch dough (your choice of color, Green Pea Dough as shown)

Flour and semolina for dusting

1/2 batch dough (your choice of color, Cacao Dough as shown)

Kosher salt

Choose which color of dough you want to be the background color for your stars and roll that dough to the third-thinnest setting on a pasta machine. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and place the pasta sheet on it. Using a star-shaped plunger cutter in any size you prefer, make star cutouts all over the sheet of pasta. I recommend spacing the star cutouts as close together as possible, because the sheet will get re-rolled and the stars will expand (doesn’t stars expanding blow your mind?). Cover this sheet with a kitchen towel. If you wish, save the tiny cutout stars to make pastina.

Roll the second dough on a pasta machine until it is the same size as the sheet with the star cutouts. Uncover the cutout pasta sheet and moisten it slightly with a kitchen brush dipped in water or a damp paper towel. Taking care to cover the cutout sheet precisely, lay the newly rolled sheet over the cutout sheet. Use a rolling pin to sandwich the two sheets together, rolling both lengthwise and crosswise.

Once you are sure the two sheets are sufficiently pressed together, use a bench scraper to carefully turn the pasta sheet over, revealing the star pattern. You may be able to make nips, tucks, and small adjustments at this point if you notice any bunching up of the pattern. Dust with flour as necessary to prevent sticking.

Roll the sheet through the pasta machine again, starting on the widest setting. Reduce the rollers to the second-widest setting and roll the opposite end of the sheet through first this time. Alternating the sides of the sheet you put through the pasta machine will ensure that the stars don’t skew too much in one direction. Keep reducing the rollers until you’ve rolled the pasta sheet through the middle thickness on the pasta machine. Your stars will look wide! Don’t worry; we’re about to fix that.

Lay the pasta sheet flat on your work surface and cut the whole sheet crosswise in 5-inch widths (or wider, up to the width of your pasta machine rollers). The star pattern has so far been skewed only side to side, making really wide stars, so now we’ll run the 5-inch sheets crosswise through the pasta machine, to stretch the stars back toward symmetry.

Feed the 5-inch widths of pasta through the pasta machine crosswise this time, perpendicular to the direction you had been feeding them through initially. Watch the star pattern and stop sheeting at your desired thinness, depending on how stretched or skewed you want the stars. I suggest stopping at the second-or third-thinnest setting.

Working with one sheet at a time, cut lengthwise strips 3/4 to 1 inch wide. Hang the noodles to rest on a pasta drying rack, dowel, or the back of a chair and repeat the process with the remaining pasta sheets.

Let the pappardelle rest for 30 minutes hanging, then gently place them on a parchment-lined and semolina-dusted sheet pan. You can boil them at this point or wait up to 2 hours at room temperature before boiling. If you would like to cook them another day, after they are leathery to the touch and no longer sticky, store the pasta on a sheet pan covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Increase the cooking time by 1 minute if working with refrigerated pasta.

Boil in salted water for 2 minutes, drain, dress, and serve immediately.

CACAO DOUGH

Rich Brown

Surprisingly enough, pasta made with the inclusion of cocoa powder has a longstanding, if not widely known, tradition in Italy. Historically, it was served with only dolce-forte or sweet and spicy sauce, because the strong flavor of the cocoa is difficult to pair with anything else. I use cacao instead of cocoa both because it’s healthier and because the flavor is subtle and on the cusp of sweet and savory, so the noodles are more easily paired with sauce.

Incidentally, chocolate in pasta existed in Italy before chocolate in dessert. Italians use chocolate in dessert only to adorn cakes, not inside of them, because the flavor of chocolate is considered too heavy for the lighter touch of Italian pastry.

This dough is remarkably easy to work with and is a striking shade of mahogany. You can add more or less cacao powder depending how deep you want your brown to be. The dough sheeted into pasta works very well with richer meat sauces, such as Pollo Agrodolce.

2¼ cups “00” pasta flour

2 tablespoons cacao powder

4 large eggs

Combine the flour and cacao powder in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the eggs and mix on low speed until a ball of dough forms. Continue to knead for 3 minutes, either by hand or in the mixer, so that the dough develops elasticity and silkiness. Cover the ball of dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before sheeting.

Alternatively, you can let the dough rest for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. The color sometimes intensifies after that, although the dough is still usable for up to 3 days.

BUTTERFLY PEA FLOWER DOUGH

Blue

Butterfly pea flower dough is a regal shade of unmistakable blue it’s hard to believe exists in nature, and yet it does. This recipe, like many in the book, is easily tweakable. You can adjust the hue as if on a sliding scale by adding a little bit of baking soda for a blue that veers toward green or a little bit of vinegar to get a more purple dough. I would not add more than ½ teaspoon baking soda or 1 tablespoon vinegar, because you’ll throw off the taste and texture, not to mention the ratio of ingredients.

This is a water-based dough for a reason. When you mix too many yellow egg yolks with butterfly pea flowers, you’ll wind up with a muddy, unattractive green-blue.

Butterfly pea flowers can be readily sourced online—Amazon has a constantly changing selection of vendors, so I usually purchase from the one that’s most highly rated at the time of my search.

1 cup boiling water

Packed 1/2 cup dried butterfly pea flowers

2¼ cups “00” pasta flour

Combine the boiling water and flowers in a bowl and stir to make sure all flowers are submerged. Let steep for 10 minutes, then press the steeped mixture through a strainer directly into the bowl of a standing mixer containing the flour. Depending how well you pressed the flowers, you may need to add a touch more flour to this dough, as it can be on the sticky side. You may not need quite all of the steeped liquid, but be sure to reserve any extra by pressing it into a separate liquid measuring cup in case you do.

Fit the mixer with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until a ball of dough forms. Continue to knead for 3 minutes, either by hand or in the mixer, so that the dough develops elasticity and silkiness. Cover the ball of dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before sheeting.

Alternatively, you can let the dough rest for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. The color sometimes intensifies after that, although the dough is still usable for up to 3 days.

]]>https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/10/17/celebrate-national-pasta-day-make-stars-pappardelle-from-linda-miller-nicholsons-new-cookbook/feed/0IMG_6356_sm (005)thesecretingredientblog9780062674937_3700eBrodo Di Parmigiano from Pasta, Pretty Pleasehttps://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/09/25/brodo-di-parmigiano-from-pasta-pretty-please/
https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/09/25/brodo-di-parmigiano-from-pasta-pretty-please/#commentsTue, 25 Sep 2018 20:06:30 +0000http://thesecretingredientblog.com/?p=7292Continue reading →]]>Warm up as the chill of autumn sets in with this classic and completely homemade soup from Pasta, Pretty Please by Linda Miller Nicholson. On Sale October 16, this cookbook is a stunning cornucopia of pasta in every color and shape, all created by hand using all-natural colors from vegetables, herbs, and superfoods—and including 25 dough recipes, 33 traditional and modern shaping techniques, and the perfect fillings and sauces to make your creations sing.

If you are already a fan of Linda’s from her Instagram feed @saltyseattle, consider pre-ordering a signed copy from her local cookbook bookstore, The Book Larder.

BRODO DI PARMIGIANO

This recipe is cucina povera in a stockpot—after all, it makes deeply flavorful brodo or broth out of something that most people would throw away, the hard rinds of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. While it’s true that it takes 5½ hours to make, it will be an entirely pleasant way to pass the time, since the perfume enveloping your kitchen is of the most intoxicating sort. If ever a smell could be mellifluous, this is it. Prepare to be hungry and wish to dip anything and everything in that shimmering pot as the flavors collide into one another like young lovers reunited after months apart. Any pasta in the book is an acceptable match for this broth, because while it’s on the thin side as far as sauces go, it’s no delicate wallflower. The gut shot of umami it packs can stand up to the heartiest of noodles, or the most filamentary.

*Save your parm rinds in the refrigerator. When you have a pound, make this rich nectar, or if your need is urgent, substitute hunks of actual Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Add everything but the parsley to a large stockpot with 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer so low you see only a bubble every 10 seconds or so. Maintain this simmer for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Add the parsley and simmer for 1 more hour. Strain all of the solids out of the stock with a sieve over a bowl and use the broth immediately, or store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or the freezer for up to 1 month

Note: To make a soup-like pasta dish, boil the pasta directly in the broth along with greens such as kale, bok choy, or broccoli.

Note: To make a thicker sauce to coat noodles, simmer to reduce the brodo by half, then toss it with pasta just before serving.

]]>https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/09/25/brodo-di-parmigiano-from-pasta-pretty-please/feed/1thesecretingredientblogBrodo di parmigiano9780062674937_3700eEgg in a Nest from The Happy Cookbook by Steve and Kathy Doocyhttps://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/09/06/egg-in-a-nest-from-the-happy-cookbook-by-steve-doocy-and-kathy-doocy/
https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/09/06/egg-in-a-nest-from-the-happy-cookbook-by-steve-doocy-and-kathy-doocy/#commentsThu, 06 Sep 2018 21:29:11 +0000http://thesecretingredientblog.com/?p=7287Continue reading →]]>Believe me: you want to try Steve and Kathy Doocys’ spin on the American classic recipe, Egg in a Nest. You can get this and more in their new cookbook, The Happy Cookbook, on sale October 2, 2018. You can also order a signed edition from one of these fine retailers: Bookends (Steve’s local bookstore), Barnes & Noble, or Books-A-Million.

Egg in a Nest

Makes 4 servings

Thirty years ago we started making the classic egg in a nest from Disney’s Family Cookbook. It was simply an egg fried in a hole cut in a piece of bread.

“Dad, why do they call it egg in a nest? It’s egg in toast,” Mary, our future lawyer, said. She was right, so Mary inspired me to devise a version of egg in a nest that looks exactly like an egg in a nest. After twenty years of trying, I hit pay dirt when I realized that hash browns arranged in a circle look like a bird’s nest!

Eureka!

If there were a lifetime achievement award for innovation in breakfast foods that look like their names, I would hope Mary would nominate me and not the guy who invented the Pop-Tart.

Cooking spray

4 cups frozen hash browns, thawed to room temperature

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 large eggs

1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 green onion, thinly sliced, for garnish

Ketchup, Frank’s RedHot sauce, or sriracha, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Place 4 equal mounds of the hash browns on the prepared baking sheet. To make each nest, use your fingers to form a classic round nest shape, leaving about 1 inch of empty space in the center, where the egg will go. Use the back of a spatula or measuring cup to press down on the potatoes, fusing them together. Coat the nests liberally with cooking spray (this will make them fused and crispy), then lightly salt and pepper them to taste.

Bake until the nests are mostly golden around the edges, about 20 minutes.

Reshape the nests as needed, spooning any loose hash browns into the nests. Crack an egg into the middle of each nest, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for about 15 minutes more for no runny yolks.

Sprinkle about a tablespoon of shredded Cheddar on top, followed by some green onions if you like. Remove the nests to plates using a spatula and serve as is or with a squirt of ketchup, Frank’s RedHot sauce, or sriracha.

]]>https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/09/06/egg-in-a-nest-from-the-happy-cookbook-by-steve-doocy-and-kathy-doocy/feed/1HyperFocal: 0thesecretingredientblogHappy-CookbookBicolored Fusilli from Pasta, Pretty Please by Linda Miller Nicholsonhttps://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/08/31/bicolored-fusilli-from-pasta-pretty-please-by-linda-miller-nicholson/
https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/08/31/bicolored-fusilli-from-pasta-pretty-please-by-linda-miller-nicholson/#respondFri, 31 Aug 2018 14:53:55 +0000http://thesecretingredientblog.com/?p=7282Continue reading →]]>We are delighted to introduce you to Linda Miller Nicholson, a.k.a. Salty Seattle. Perhaps you’ve heard of her from the Facebook Lives she’s done for Food Network, or maybe you follow her Instagram feed and are fully aware of the colorful, whimsical, and healthful handmade stuffed and rolled pastas she showcases there.

The fun has only begun, because on October 16, 2018, pasta lovers around the world will have full access to Linda’s unique techniques and all-natural colorings for handmade pasta. Her cookbook, Pasta, Pretty Please, will be on sale wherever books are sold. You can reserve your own signed edition through her local bookstore, The Book Larder.

If you can’t wait until the 16th of October to get your hands into some colorful pasta dough, here is Linda’s recipe for Bicolored Fusilli! Post your pictures of your creations to social media and tag @saltyseattle and #pastaprettyplease.

BICOLORED FUSILLI

Fusilli aren’t silly at all as a pasta shape; in fact they are quite serious. That is, serious about providing all sorts of nooks and crannies for sauce to nestle into, making for a seriously nuanced plate of pasta. I’ve found that with fusilli in particular, a generous pour of my preferred Italian red wine, Gattinara, helps me to channel just the right mindset. They’re one of my favorite shapes to showcase one color on one side and a different color on another, because two tones amplify the retro telephone-cord look.

You’ll need either a knitting needle or a metal kebab skewer. The diameter will determine the width of your fusilli tendrils. Feel free to use any size needle up to about 1/3 inch, as any larger might be hard to manage. If you have a wooden needle/skewer lying around, it will certainly work, but if you’re able, use metal, as the pasta won’t stick to it as with wood, and it will make things slightly easier. If the skewer/needle has an endcap that is larger than the cylinder, just roll your fusilli with that end hanging off the edge of the surface so it doesn’t affect the needle’s ability to roll evenly across the surface.

The first time you make fusilli, start with the suggested amount of dough in the recipe, which is quarter batches of each color; if you try to make more, chances are your dough will dry out before you finish rolling this unique shape. As written, this will make two servings of pasta. If you want to scale up eventually, I still recommend working with a total of a half batch of dough at a time and sheeting new dough as you want more. This will prevent you from having an unmalleable sheet of dried-out pasta.

Roll each color of dough to the third-thinnest setting on a pasta machine, taking care that the sheets are the same size as one another and as wide as your pasta machine rollers will allow. Flour the bottom of one sheet of pasta and lay it on your work surface, unfloured side up. Lay the second sheet of pasta on top of the first, doing your best to match it to the shape of the base sheet exactly. Flour the top of the second sheet. Gently roll the two sheets together, first with a rolling pin, then with a pasta machine. When the bicolored sheet is through the third-thinnest pasta machine setting, it’s ready to become fusilli.

Using a straight rolling cutter, cut the pasta sheet crosswise into four pieces. Work with a quarter sheet of pasta at a time, keeping the remaining sheets covered with a kitchen towel to prevent drying. Cut the jagged end off your quarter sheet so that you have a pasta rectangle. Lightly flour this sheet so that it does not stick to the skewer when twisting.

Using the same rolling cutter, cut the sheet crosswise into noodles that are 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide and 5 to 6 inches long. Work with one noodle at a time. Place a noodle on the work surface on a diagonal and wrap the near end of it around your skewer, about halfway up the needle. Position your open palm across the skewer/needle on top of where you’ve wrapped the noodle and roll away from you gently against the work surface. This will result in the noodle twisting around the skewer in a spiral.

Gently slide the noodle off the skewer, taking care not to rip or snag it. If you notice that it wants to bond to the skewer, add a little more flour to the remaining noodles. Winding the noodles too tightly around the skewer can also result in them sticking. When you move your palm across the surface, do so with just enough pressure to get the noodle and skewer to roll. Don’t apply so much pressure that the noodle smooshes into the skewer.

Repeat to make the remaining fusilli, taking care to give each its own space on the work surface.

Let the fusilli rest for at least 45 minutes or up to 2 hours at room temperature before boiling. If you would like to cook them another day, after they are leathery to the touch and no longer sticky, store the pasta on a sheet pan covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Increase the cooking time by 1 minute if working with refrigerated pasta.

Boil in salted water for 1 to 2 minutes, drain, dress, and serve immediately.

BUTTERFLY PEA FLOWER DOUGH

Blue

Butterfly pea flower dough is a regal shade of unmistakable blue it’s hard to believe exists in nature, and yet it does. This recipe, like many in the book, is easily tweakable. You can adjust the hue as if on a sliding scale by adding a little bit of baking soda for a blue that veers toward green or a little bit of vinegar to get a more purple dough. I would not add more than ½ teaspoon baking soda or 1 tablespoon vinegar, because you’ll throw off the taste and texture, not to mention the ratio of ingredients.

This is a water-based dough for a reason. When you mix too many yellow egg yolks with butterfly pea flowers, you’ll wind up with a muddy, unattractive green-blue.

Butterfly pea flowers can be readily sourced online—Amazon has a constantly changing selection of vendors, so I usually purchase from the one that’s most highly rated at the time of my search.

1 cup boiling water

Packed 1/2 cup dried butterfly pea flowers

2¼ cups “00” pasta flour

Combine the boiling water and flowers in a bowl and stir to make sure all flowers are submerged. Let steep for 10 minutes, then press the steeped mixture through a strainer directly into the bowl of a standing mixer containing the flour. Depending how well you pressed the flowers, you may need to add a touch more flour to this dough, as it can be on the sticky side. You may not need quite all of the steeped liquid, but be sure to reserve any extra by pressing it into a separate liquid measuring cup in case you do.

Fit the mixer with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until a ball of dough forms. Continue to knead for 3 minutes, either by hand or in the mixer, so that the dough develops elasticity and silkiness. Cover the ball of dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before sheeting.

Alternatively, you can let the dough rest for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. The color sometimes intensifies after that, although the dough is still usable for up to 3 days.

PARSLEY-PEPPER-TURMERIC DOUGH

Speckled Chartreuse Green

I’m a big, big fan of the color chartreuse, and this dough is close to that shade, with flattering smatters of black accenting the green. It’s no accident that I included black pepper, since the active ingredient in black pepper, piperine, is said to increase the body’s absorption of the curcumin in turmeric. Health benefits aside, make this dough just once for me, pretty please, since I’m so partial to its gorgeous color.

In a large saucepan over high heat, bring the salt, baking soda, and 8 cups water to a boil. Add the parsley and blanch it for 15 seconds. Drain and press out the water.

Add the parsley to a blender and wait 1 or 2 minutes for it to cool. Add the turmeric, pepper, and eggs and blend on low speed at first to combine, then increase the speed and puree until smooth.

Strain the puree with a fine-mesh sieve over a small bowl to remove and discard any grainy threads.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour and puree. Mix on low speed until a ball of dough forms. Continue to knead for 3 minutes, either by hand or in the mixer, so that the dough develops elasticity and silkiness. Cover the ball of dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before sheeting.

Alternatively, you can let the dough rest for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. The color sometimes intensifies after that, although the dough is still usable for up to 3 days.

]]>https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/08/31/bicolored-fusilli-from-pasta-pretty-please-by-linda-miller-nicholson/feed/0thesecretingredientblogIMG_31729780062674937_3700eSoothe Yourself Tonic from Blotto Botanyhttps://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/08/29/soothe-yourself-tonic-from-blotto-botany/
https://thesecretingredientblog.com/2018/08/29/soothe-yourself-tonic-from-blotto-botany/#respondWed, 29 Aug 2018 12:25:22 +0000http://thesecretingredientblog.com/?p=7264Continue reading →]]>Blotto Botany by Spencre L.R. McGowan is a gorgeous little book of medicinal cordials created by herbalist and witchy healing expert Spencre McGowan. Blotto Botany was originally a zine that swept the indie circuit, and we are now turning it into a full-length book with nods to the original design. Inside, readers and herbalism practitioners will find 40 cordial recipes organized by season, each with their own healing properties.

Today we’re sharing the second sneak peek recipe, before it goes on sale September 4th – a Soothe Yourself Tonic that’s perfect to enjoy after a stressful day, or when some self-care is much needed.